Erik Enocksson
Farväl Falkenberg (btv088)Buy Online | LP/7″
Track listing:A Side
1. The joy of D. H. Lawrence
2. Dusk settles in
3. The breaking of waves
4. The nylon waltz
5. What Drove Her Shivering Into The Cold, Cold SeaB Side
6. The state the sea left me in
7. Thru thick night
8. With its dark tail curled ’round the garage #1
9. The sea waltz
10. The lingering processionC Side
Harsh and stubborn that river bends
D Side
Dark and shrewd, no light it lends

Farväl Falkenberg, the soundtrack to the acclaimed Swedish film of the same name, by Stockholm-based composer Erik Enocksson, has all the ingredients of eerie, woodland-influenced sounds (chiming bells, heavy organ use, perpetual dusk) as well as enough ethereal vocals to bring rustic porch culture to anyone’s mind.

With an undeniable sense of “home”, Farväl Falkenberg reverberates with the sounds of small-town Swedish life. Influenced by the Southwestern coastal area of the country, the record’s woodsy magic carries the listener through finely crafted, brambly sounds and out to some porch in the middle of nowhere with Father and a hunting rifle.

Complete with breezy, intermittent whistling and the sounds of Enocksson’s old pump organ wheezing in the background, Farväl Falkenberg achieves many things at once. As often as the tracks are hushed and deliberate, they never beg for climactic mood. Quite the contrary – with this lush record full of thick, back-country piano and raw, acoustic guitar waltzes, Enocksson effortlessly translates the feeling of isolation (both geographically and emotionally) in an intensely personal way.

Erik Enocksson wrote the soundtrack to 2007’s Farväl Falkenberg, a Swedish independent film scarcely seen outside of Scandinavia. The soundtrack was originally released by Sweden’s Kning Disk on compact disk and a Danish friend sent us both the soundtrack album and a version of the film with English subtitles. Burnt Toast Vinyl began discussions about releasing the soundtrack in the United States soon after and finally settled on a vinyl version with a bonus 7″.

“The cover is all rough and tactile and Scandinavian looking and I have to say, it’s brightened up my surreal afternoon, and that’s before listening to the music. Luckily Enocksson doesn’t disappoint and does exactly what I’d hope – lovely tempered acoustic compositions that sound like they were made on a back porch in America, by way of Goteborg of course. It’s sort of like Tape without the electronics or Jasper TX with a full band – all droning organs, creaking chairs and delicately plucked string instruments and it’s got my jaw lodged on the table.”–Boomkat

“The opening track had us completely smitten within seconds. A gorgeously melancholy acoustic guitar, spinning a soft sad melody, mournful and moody, the main melody is whistled, giving the track a certain childlike vibe, a bit of a Morricone / Bjorn Olsson feel too, it seriously gives us shivers just writing about it. Then the ‘chorus’ kicks in, and adds soft focus piano plinking in the background, another guitar higher up in the mix, simple tambourine percussion. It’s so evocative, you can’t help but let your mind start making up different scenes from this movie you’ve never seen. Lonely walks, sitting by the window, rain pouring down, wandering along railroad tracks, laying in bed staring at the cracks in the ceiling. Wow.”
–Aquarius Records